Console Releases

PlayStation fans have plenty of reasons to get excited this weekend. To say Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 is long-anticipated would be a gross understatement. We'll have one of the first and most in-depth reviews of the game available in the near future from a true fan of the series. V-Rally 2 Platinum is also on general release today for the PSX. The original V-Rally was a big name for the console in its infancy and the sequel carried on the legacy. If you have a spare £20 you could do a lot worse. It's a good weekend for puzzle fans as well. Magical Drop on the PSX and Wetrix on the GameBoy both see the light of day. The latter was a big hit on the 32-bit consoles and Nintendo's N64 with its isometric 3D rainfall/land-building action and it should translate well to the handheld format. And speaking of the GameBoy, owners of Nintendo's little pocket of joy might just as well stay inside this week - the only other title coming out is Winnie the Pooh from Ubi-Soft, and one would speculate that was a very kiddish Christmas title. In fact, it's a very barren week on the whole for Nintendo, who are preferring to gear up towards the release of the PlayStation 2 - the big guns will be out over the next few weeks, including Mario Tennis and Zelda : Majora's Mask. It seems that the PlayStation 2's imminent arrival has acted like a huge magnet for release dates across all formats. Nothing terribly impressive is coming out, with all of the major companies preferring to spearhead an attack on Sony's console at the end of October State-side and November here in Europe. Titles available on the Dreamcast this week are limited to Street Fighter Alpha 3 and Pod 2.